Today we are focusing on Jordan Nathan a Wide Receiver for Utah State. Nathan is a 5’8″ 180lbs, Senior, who was an Athlon Sports Third-Team All-Mountain West All-Purpose Player and Athlon Sports Fourth-Team All-Mountain West Punt Returner this pre season. The film I watched to scout Nathan was @ Boise State (2020) and @ Nevada (2020).
Pros:
Nathan’s strengths start with his short area quickness and his extremely quick feet. He uses these tools to help create separation in his routes and get off the LOS quickly. He then will use his speed to help him get deep and open up from the DB even more. He does a great job of eating up cushion on his DBs as well. He is a natural hand catcher and displayed soft hands on film. When it comes to route running he does a great job at finding the soft spots in the zone and can provide an easy target for his QB. He provides value on special teams as a top punt returner and could even help as a kick returner.
Cons:
I wouldn’t use Nathan much as a deep threat as he lacks the height and jumping ability to be elite. He also doesn’t have the best body control or hand eye coordination when going up for contested passes. Nathan also needs to work on getting in and out of his routes vs man coverage, which will help him get more separation. His hand fighting technique needs work all around as he struggles with securing blocks and getting out of the jam. Finally, I want to see Nathan improve his decisiveness when he has the ball in his hands. It seems as if he overthinks the game and doesn’t just get up field for some positive yardage.
Bottom Line:
Bottom Line is Nathan is more of a short area receiver, that would probably do better in the slot than out wide where Utah State plays him. His quick feet and zone route running will help him be effective in the slot and if he can work on his blocking and jam shedding, he could become an elite slot receiver. If he gets a shot at the next level it will be due to the value he provides as a punt returner and a possible project player in the slot. I gave Nathan a grade of 4.9 which translates to a 6th round pick, however I think his size will scare teams away, unless they want to keep a roster spot for a project player and return man.
